Cluster assembly and clip therefor

ABSTRACT

AN ASSEMBLY OF THREE CONNECTOR CLIPS, EACH ADAPTED TO BE APPLIED TO ONE OF A CLUSTER OF THREE PINS TO FORM AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTION, THE ASEMBLY BEING PARTICULARLY ADAPTED FOR USE WITH REFRIGERATION COMPRESSORS HAVING A HORSE POWER REQUIRE MENT OF ONE-HALF OR MORE HORSEPOWER.

United States Patent Ofilce 3,566,341 CLUSTER ASSEMBLY AND CLIP THEREFORSigmund J. Skony, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Van Products,Incorporated, a corporation Filed Dec. 26, 1968, SenNo. 787,086 Int. Cl.H01r 33/72, 11/22 US. Cl. 339-192 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anassembly of three connector clips, each adapted to be applied to one ofa cluster of three pins to form an electrical connection, the assemblybeing particularly adapted for use with refrigeration compressors havinga horsepower requirement of one-half or more horsepower.

This invention relates to an assembly of connector clips each adapted tobe applied to circular pin to form an electrical connection. Theinvention is applied particularly to provide an electrical connection toa motor disposed inside a hermetically sealed compressor. In makinghermetically sealed compressors, it has been the practice to provide ametallic housing containing the compressor and motor therefor, thehousing having three electrical terminal pins projecting from the insideof the housing to the outside, the pins being electrically insulatedfrom the housing by a glass-to-metal seal. Electrical power is broughtto the motor by applying connector clips to the outwardly projectingpins. The motor within the housing is connected by similar clips to thepins within the hous mg.

A number of considerations are involved in making the connection to thepins. Of principal consideration is the surety of the connection,particularly at the inside of the compressor, for a failure of theconnection after the housing is sealed is tantamount to a failure of thecomplete compressor unit without any possibility of repair. On the otherhand, since millions of these connections are made every year in thisindustry the economy of making the connections must be considered, If aninexpensive connection will reliably perform the same function as anexpensive connection, then obviously the inexpensive connection shouldbe selected. An objective of the present invention has been to provide aconnection which is at least as satisfactory as that which has beenheretofore used in the industry but which can be made at considerablylower cost.

Among the functional requirements which must be met is the requirementthat the clips are subject to several applications before final assemblyFor example, the clips will be applied to the leads connected to a motorand these clips will .'be placed upon pins at several testing stationsbefore the motor is deemed suitable for use in the compressor housing.To facilitate the testing steps as well as the final application of theclips it is desirable to mount the clips in a cluster assembly whichincludes an insulative block that holds the pins in that equiangularorientation determined by the orientation of the pins to which they areto be applied. Not only does the mounting of the clips in a clusterblock facilitate testing and assembly but additionally the cluster blocktends to provide assurance that the clips will be properly aligned withtheir pins during application thereby minimizing the possibility ofdistortion of the clip through mis-alignment with the pins. As aconsequence, the cluster assembly of the type which is the subject ofPats. Nos. 2,875,426, 3,101,985 and 3,- 206,715 have 'been especiallywell received in the industry. These cluster assemblies however havebeen used only in low power applications of up to three-fourthshorsepower. For larger horsepower applications the connections havePatented Feb. 23, 1971 been made along the lines indicated in Pat. No.3,222,633, that being a spade and flag type connection which is notparticularly well suited for a cluster assembly.

The spade and flag connection has employed a spade welded at two spotsto each pin. This of itself is an expensive operation costing up toseveral cents for each assembly. As indicated, the clip has been a flagtype clip which has not been mounted in a cluster block and hence thetesting and assembly steps have been more costly due to the requirementof manipulating individual clips. Further, the flag receptacle tends todeform due to the force of application and remains loose: on its spade.Such a loose connection causes high electrical resistance and henceexcessive heat of operation tending to result in early failure.

It has been an objective of the present invention to provide a connectorclip which is applicable to a round pin of sulficient diameter for largehorsepower requirements, the clip also being mountable in a. clusterblock whereby all of the attributes of cluster assembly connection canbe attained without sacrificing the quality of the electricalconnection.

The objective of the present invention is attained in part by providinga connector clip which includes a shank having usual ferrule forattaching to a lead wire at one end and a metallic strip projecting fromthe shank at the other end. The strip is folded upon itself to provide areceptacle for receiving a pin, the receptacle being constituted by anoutwardly projecting leg of the strip and the return leg of the strip.

The return leg of the strip has a longitudinally extending slot whichperforms two functions. First, the slotting of the leg provides two legsections each one making an electrical contact with the pin instead of asingle point of contact which would be made if the leg were not slotted.Second, a locking detent is mounted on one of the legs, the slotpermitting the detent and leg section to flex thereby permitting thedetent to ride over a locking abutment in a cluster block.

The invention further contemplates the provision of two locking earsintegral with the shank, the locking ears overlying the free ends of thetwo return leg sections to hold the leg sections against undesirablespreading upon application of the clip to its terminal pin. This mannerof latching or looking the return leg in position assures the integrityof the terminal connection which is independent of the walls of thecluster block.

Further in accordance with the invention, the cluster block has a frontwall having holes through which the pins project to make an engagementwith the clips, and holes in the opposite back wall to provide abutmentsinto which the detents drop when the clips are assembled in the clusterblock. The design of the clip coupled with the described orientation inthe cluster block prevents permanently distorting the detent carryingsection and this prevents the clip from inadvertently sliding out of thecluster block once it has been assembled.

Still further, the receptacle has been formed with flat inside wallswhose length is greater than the diameter of the pins over which theyare applied and permits a rocking application of the clips to the pin.In other words, the receptacle does not have a barrel which must beprecisely aligned with the pin in order to prevent that distortion ofthe barrel which would occur during a misaligned application.

Several features of the invention will become more readily apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the prior practice,

FIG. 2 is a disassembled perspective view of the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention with portions broken away,

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view partly in section showing theconnector clip in the process of being inserted in a cluster block,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 showing connector clip inposition and being applied to terminal pins,

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the connector clip.

FIG. 1 illustrates one form of practice in the industry prior to thepresent invention. As shown there, a header or glass-to-metal seal 10 issecured to a compressor wall 11. Three conductive pins 12 are mounted inthe header 10 through a glass seal 13. The glass seal physically securesthe pins in the header as well as insulating the pins from the metallicheader as well as the metallic casing of the compressor.

The device of FIG. 1 is for a high horsepower application and may employpins of .125 inch in diameter. A spade 14 is secured to each end of eachof the pins at the two spot welds 15. Electrical connection to the pinsand spades is made by a flag type connector clip 16 having receptacleportion 17 which receives the spade. The flag type connector clip doesnot readily admit of cluster assembly application, that is to say, itwould not be practical to mount three connector clips in a cluster blockfor application to their respective spades.

In accordance with the objectives of the invention a structure isprovided through which a cluster of clips can be applied to the largediameter pins of a higher horsepower header. The cluster assembly of thepresent invention is shown generally in FIG. 2 and is indicated at 20,FIG. 2 showing an inside and outside application of the clusterassembly. As indicated in FIGS. 2. and 3, the cluster assembly includesa cluster block 21 having a front wall 22, back wall 23, the front andback walls being joined by four integral transverse walls. As shown inFIG. 5, the dimensions of the front wall 22 should be great enough tooverhang the flange of the header 10 at each end. This will prevent anextreme cocking of the block after application and prevent driving theblock so far that the pins 12 break through the back wall 23.

The walls together form three longitudinal passageways 25 which receiveconnector clips to which lead wires 31 are attached. The front wall hasthree equiangularly spaced holes 32 each of which is in communicationwith a respective passageway 25 and each of which is in alignment with areceptacle 33 of each respective connector clip. The three clips aresimultaneously applied to three spadeless pins 12 of a header 10 simplyby aligning the holes 32 with the pins and applying sufficient force onthe cluster block to force the pins 12 to enter the receptacle 33.

The back wall 23 of the block has three equiangularly spaced holes 35which provide clip locking abutments as will be explained below.Internally of the cluster block, each passageway presents a shoulder 36which is engageable by a respective connector clip. The hole 35 andshoulder 36 cooperate with respective surfaces on the clip to locate theclip against fore and aft movement within the longitudinally extendingpassageway 25 and maintains the receptacle 33 in alignment with the pinreceiving hole 32.

Each clip includes a shank 40 having a lead wire gripping ferrule 41 atone end of the shank, the receptacle 33 being located at the other endof the shank. Receptacle 33 includes a longitudinally extending leg 42which projects integrally from the shank and a return leg 43 folded upon the projecting leg 42. The legs 42 and 43 are spaced apart a distanceslightly less than the diameter of the pin to which they are to beapplied so as to create the receptacle 33. For example, in a typicalapplication, the diameter of pin 12 is .125 inch. The receptacle 33includes flat surfaces 44 and 45 which are spaced apart approximately.120 inch. During application, these walls are forced apart byintroduction of the pin into the receptacle, the resilience of the metalphosphor bronze or beryllium copper providing the good electricalcontact between pin and clip. It can be observed from FIG. 6 that thelength of the receptacle, that is its longitudinal dimension, issubstantially greater (for example, two times) than the transversedimension of the receptacle. This permits an angulated or rockingintroduction of the pin into the receptacle as explained in connectionwith FIG. 5 without permanently deforming the walls of the receptacleand thereby causing them to lose their original force of application.

The return leg 43 has a slot 47 which divides the return leg into twosections 48 and 49. One of the sections 49 which normally lies adjacentto the back wall 23 of the cluster block is somewhat thinner thansection 48. A detent 50 projects laterally from the section 43 and hasan inclined edge 51 and an edge of 52 which is perpendicular to theplane of the back wall 23 or the longitudinal axis of the clip and leadwire. The inclined edge of the detent facilitates insertion of the clipinto its respective passageway by permitting the detent to ride past aslight shoulder 53 formed in the passageway adjacent the hole 35. Theperpendicular edge 52 is engageable with a surface 54 formed by the hole35 the edge and surface 52 and 54 respectively forming a cooperatingdetent and abutment which blocks withdrawal of the clip from thepassageway once it has been introduced. Movement of the clip in thepassageway 25 in the opposite direction is blocked by the engagement ofthe clip with the shoulder 36 described above.

A flange 60 projects perpendicularly from each side of the shank 40.Ears 61 are integral with each flange and overlie the end of the returnleg 43. The flanges 60 terminate adjacent the outer edges of the returnleg 43, which permits as wide as possible a shank 40 which in turnmaximizes its current carrying capacity. The ears 61 are angled inwardlyfrom the extreme outer edges. of the lflanges so as to terminate asubstantial distance inwardly of the edges of the return leg. Thus thecar 61 provides a stable lock to hold the position of the respectivereturn leg sections 48 and 49 against distortion when they are appliedto a pin.

The ferrule which is attached to the lead wire has an insulationgripping portion 65 and a bare wire gripping portion 66 as is common inconnectors of this type. Between the two wire gripping portions 65 and66- are tabs 67 by which the connector clips are connected together asthey form a ribbon emanating from a punch press.

In operation the clips with the lead wires secured are introduced intothe respective passageways 25 of the cluster block as shown in FIG. 4.There it can be seen that the inclined leading edge 51 of the detent hasridden past the shoulder 53. Slight further longitudinal movement in thedirection of arrow 70 causes the detent to drop into the hole 35 so thatthe clip assumes the position shown in FIG. 5.

The cluster assembly of three clips in a cluster block is applied to thethree pins 12 simply by placing the cluster assembly onto the pins withthe pins in alignment with holes 32. A slight misalignment is permittedwithout undue distortion of the clip receptacle as illustrated in FIG. 5for the receptacle has a sufficiently great longitudinal dimension toenable the pin to be inserted at an angle.

If, for some reason, a distortion occurs to the extent that the slot 47of the return leg is closed, thus releasing the detent, the slot can bereopened simply by inserting a screwdriver in the slot and twisting.

II claim:

1. A connector clip comprising a shank,

a longitudinally extending ferrule at one end of said shank forapplication to a lead wire,

a receptacle at the other end of said shank, said receptacle including alongitudinally extending leg projecting integrally from said shank, anda longitudinally extending return leg folded upon said projecting legbut spaced therefrom to provide a receptacle to receive a pin,

means on said shank to hold the free end of said return leg fromspreading away from said projecting a detent projecting laterally fromone edge of said return leg and adapted to cooperate with an abutment ina cluster block to hold said clip in said cluster block, and

said return leg having a longitudinally extending slot dividing it intotwo leg sections, said slot imparting resiliency to the leg sectioncarrying said detent to facilitate introduction of said clip into acluster block and to provide a positive lock of said clip in saidcluster block.

2. A connector clip according to claim 1 in which the leg sectioncontaining said detent is thinner than the remaining section.

3. A connector clip comprising a shank,

a longitudinally extending ferrule at one end of said shank forapplication to a lead wire,

a receptacle at the other end of said shank, said receptacle including alongitudinally extending leg projecting integrally from said shank, anda longitudinally extending return leg folded upon said projecting legbut spaced therefrom to provide a receptacle to receive a pin,

said return leg having a longitudinally extending slot dividing it intotwo leg sections,

a flange integral with and projecting from each side of said shanktoward said return leg,

an ear integral with each flange and overlying said return leg sectionsto hold a respective leg section from spreading away from saidprojecting leg, and

said flanges being located at the free ends of said leg sections andsaid ears being angled from their flanges inwardly and terminatinginwardly of the lateral edges of said leg sections.

4. A cluster assembling comprising:

an integrally molded block having parallel front and back walls, andfour spaced transverse walls between said front and back walls definingthree longitudinal passageways,

said front wall having three pin receiving holes, each communicatingwith a respective passageway.

said back wall having three abutment forming holes, each communicatingwith a respective passageway,

a connector clip in each passageway, each connector clip having areceptacle including a longitudinally extending first leg and alongitudinally extending return leg folded upon said first leg toprovide a pin receiving opening aligned with a pin receiving hole,

a longitudinally extending slot in said return leg to divide it into twoleg sections,

a detent projecting laterally from the edge of one of said leg sectionsand projecting into said abutment forming hole.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,451,800 11/ 1948 Buchanan et all73-269 2,875,426 2/1959 Skony 339-192 3,101,985 8/1963 Skony 3391923,146,051 8/ 1964 Woofter et a1. 339-47 3,206,715 9/1965 Skony 339l923,271,729 9/1966 Bakker et a1 3392l7 3,456,236 7/1969 Kennedy 339-258MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner .L. J. STAAB, Assistant ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R.

